About The Song
“Careless Whisper” is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter George Michael. Released as the second single from Wham!’s second studio album Make It Big (1984), it was written by Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, with Michael producing the song. Although the song was released as part of Make It Big, the single release is credited to either Wham! featuring George Michael (in North America and several other countries) or solely to George Michael (in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and some nations in Europe).
The song has been covered by a number of artists since its release, including Brian McKnight, Seether, Roger Williams, Kenny G and Julio Iglesias, among others. A contemporary pop song with R&B and soul influences, it features a prominent saxophone riff composed by Michael and played by Steve Gregory. It became a commercial success, topping record charts in at least ten countries and selling about 6 million copies worldwide—2 million of them in the United States. The song later achieved popularity on social media, mainly due to the saxophone riff being used in many movies and as a popular internet meme. With sales of over 11 million copies worldwide it is one of the best selling songs of all time.
In 1981, Michael was working as a DJ at the Bel Air Restaurant in Northwood, London near Bushey, Hertfordshire. Michael explained in his autobiography, Bare, that he conceptualised “Careless Whisper” based on events from his childhood. Michael wrote, “I was on my way to DJ at the Bel Air when I wrote ‘Careless Whisper’. I have always written on buses, trains and in cars. It always happens on journeys… With ‘Careless Whisper’ I remember exactly where it first came to me, where I came up with the sax line… I remember I was handing the money over to the guy on the bus and I got this line, the sax line… I wrote it totally in my head. I worked on it for about three months in my head.” Sheet music for “Careless Whisper” sets the key of D minor.
“When I was twelve, thirteen, I used to have to chaperone my sister, who was two years older, to an ice rink at Queensway in London,” he explained. “There was a girl there with long blonde hair whose name was Jane. I was a fat boy in glasses and I had a big crush on her—though I didn’t stand a chance. My sister used to go and do what she wanted when we got to the skating rink and I would spend the afternoon swooning over this girl Jane.”
Video
Lyrics
I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies, something in your eyes
Calls to mind a silver screen
And all its sad good-byes
I’m never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it’s easy to pretend
I know you’re not a fool
I should’ve known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I’d been given
So I’m never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh
Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There’s no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you’ll find
I’m never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it’s easy to pretend
I know you’re not a fool
I should’ve known better than to cheat a friend (should’ve known better, yeah)
And waste the chance that I’d been given
So I’m never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh
Never without your love
Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it’s better this way
We’d hurt each other with the things we’d want to say
We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But now, who’s gonna dance with me?
Please stay
And I’m never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it’s easy to pretend
I know you’re not a fool
I should’ve known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I’d been given
So I’m never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh
now that you’re gone
(Now that you’re gone) was what I did so wrong, so wrong
That you had to leave me alone?